I Need
by You'veBeenJayed
Summary: Why is Zim acting so weird? And what's up with that sparking backpack of his? Well, Dib is going to figure it out one way or another. No ZADR, just friendship.


**I think this started out kind of well-written and nice, then I somewhat got lazy towards the end. I tried anyway.**

**--**

Dib was annoyed, to say the lease, and very frustrated. Every second he spent staring at the green-boy Zim, he became more frustrated. He glared magnified brown eyes at him, grinding his teeth, confusion and frustration growing to its peak…

"I know you're planning something Zim!" the scythe-haired boy exclaimed eventually, jumping onto his desk and pointing dramatically at the other.

Zim blinked, twitching slightly, trying to hide it. "What ever are you talking about, Dib-stink?" he asked innocently, though his contacted violet eyes showed his annoyance through a glare. He twitched again.

"That! What you just did! You keep twitching and shaking and sometimes your backpack-thing sparks. That's not normal!" Dib pointed out with a smirk. Everyone looked at Zim's mildly sparking PAK, causing him to sink into his seat.

"Oh, please, Dee-uh, Dib. Everyone knows sparking beh-eh, uh…b-backpacks are the newest thing. Yes, completely normal human devices,"

Dib hadn't missed his stuttered words; they had sounded more like a broken computer than a human stuttering. "That sparks dangerous electricity?" he stated skeptically.

Zim nodded, smiling a fake nervous smile to the room. "Yes, of course. All the popular _humans_ have it. Of course, y-you wouldn't know," The alien smirked as the children agreed, threw some insults at Dib, and then began ignoring the two again. Zim gave him a 'I win again' look, making the other growl until the alien twitched again.

"I will find out what you're planning. Then, I'll stop whatever it—"

"Dib! Sit down and stop talking," Ms. Bitters interrupted him with a hiss. "Unless you want to be sent to underground detention where you shall be _doomed_."

"Uh, no, Ms. Bitters. I'll sit." Dib said, getting off his desk and sitting nervously. From there, the teacher continued on her lesson of doom until lunch.

In the lunchroom, Dib sat next to Gaz, glaring at the odd-acting Irken. "Look at the way he's twitching, Gaz," Dib started. "It's not like him. And he kept stuttering weirdly in class,"

Gaz, eyes locked on her game, barely acknowledged her brother. "Who cares? Maybe he's sick,"

"Sick? Zim never gets sick!"

"Then don't worry about it and leave me alone."

A few hours after school, Dib did some note-checking. He spent over two hours going carefully over his many notes on Zim. He didn't find much on what could be causing him to act this way, but…

"Wait a second!" Dib announced loudly to himself. "I've got it! But I have to get more information, first…"

Somewhere in the dark night, a figure dressed in black, darker than the night itself, rolled and tip-toed towards a misshapen house. No lights were on—which was weird since Zim never slept. Did he?

Dib easily strolled past the inactive lawn gnomes and reached for the handle of Zim's door. As soon as his pale hand touched it, a trap-door opened up under his feet and he dropped down.

Dib landed harshly on a pile of something plushy. He rubbed his head and picked up one of the fluffy fake items. "Stuffed squirrels?"

--

_Earlier that week, Gir put down a pile of stuffed squirrels, patting them each gently. Zim walked in and, seeing this, glared at the robot._

"_Gir! What are you doing to my trap-door hole?" Zim asked angrily._

_Gir smiled widely, not sensing his master's fury. "I'm makin' a bed of stuffed squirrels so the piggies won't get lonely!"_

"_But how will I hear when an intruder drops in?!"_

"_Oh yeah…" He was told to clean them up immediately, but never did._

_--_

Dib tossed the stuffed squirrel away and got up as quietly as possible. Noises were heard around the giant machine he fell behind.

"Computer! What is happening to me?" Dib instantly recognized the voice as Zim's.

Dib looked around the machine and spotted the green alien boy in plain sight, arguing with his computer.

"Well, _sir_, if you'd just put your PAK on the table, I could examine it for you," the computer said with a hint of boredom and annoyance.

"But Zim needs his PAK to—"

"It won't take long!"

There was a short pause of nervousness and twitching from Zim. "…Fine. Just hurry up!" Dib's eyes widened under his glasses as Zim carefully removed his PAK, placing it on the table next to him. Dib smiled. So he was right…

He snuck over to as close as he could get to the PAK as possible without being caught. Zim finally turned away from the alien device to check the scan progression on the computer screen. That's when the raven-haired boy took his chance, lunged forward, and snatched up the PAK, holding it up triumphantly. Zim turned around in surprise.

"Filthy human! How did you get in here? Why was I not informed?!" Zim yelled in shock.

Dib smirked, clutching the PAK tightly, on-guard. This was Zim's turf. Anything could happen… Why did he decide to do this again? Did thought nervously. He stabled himself as well as he could. It was for research. This had to be done.

Zim took a careful step towards the scythe-haired boy. He held out his gloved hand. "Dib-human… Just give me the PAK. Now,"

Dib's eyes shot up. Was Zim nervous, too? But why? He looked down at the machine in his hands. Was this that important? A gleam shone on his glasses as he developed a very crude idea.

"So, Zim," he smirked deviously, earning a suspicious look from the alien, "what's so great about this pile of _junk_ anyway?" He tossed it up and down. For being that size with al that technology in it, it felt extremely light. Zim watched it with wide-eyes.

"It is not this 'junk', human. It is a very, _very_ important piece of Irken technology and I would be very pleased if you returned it to Zim,"

"What's it do?" Dib asked, ignoring the pleading look in the odd maroon eyes.

Zim sighed. "Just return it! It's none of your stinky business, you smelly, pathetic, horrible—"

"Ah-ah, Zim. Any more insults and I smash this thing." Zim took a fearful step back.

"Y-you wouldn't," he said weakly, all his rage diminished. "I _need_ that. Give it before it's too late!" He could already feel his body weakening, having to concentrate to stay standing and to speak, his vision was greatly dulled.

"Too late for what?"

""None of your—" Zim started, but stopped once Dib acted like he was going to drop the PAK. "It's my… My, uh…" Zim held a hand to his head, feeling woozy. He sat, unable to hold himself up any longer.

Dib's eyes widened almost past his glasses. "Your, what, Zim?" he walked closer.

"Ohhh, uh… Wha?" His eyelids began drooping, his heart (whatever he has) beating slower, strength gone. He wasn't able to comprehend what the human was saying anymore.

Dib kneeled down to face Zim, shaking him. "Zim? Zim! Stay with me! What's wrong with you?"

The computer chuckled a little, before speaking. "Zim is dying." It stated bluntly.

"What!?" Dib stared at Zim. "Why!?"

"Because, you stupid human, you have his life-force,"

"His what?"

The computer groaned. "The PAK. The thing you have been holding this whole time. That's what keeps the Irkens alive. Once you take it off, the Irken only has about ten minutes to live,"

"Then…why was Zim twitching and stuttering so much today?" Dib continued, feeling more informed on Zim's condition made him feel a little better. At least he knew he could control whether Zim lived or died.

"Because his PAK is damaged."

"What's wrong with it?" He flipped it around, looking for signs of damage.

"According to the scan I took from it… The PAK has a gelatin-like substance inside of it. If you place it on that table over there, I can quickly and easily remove it," It paused. "If you, his greatest enemy, so wishes for Zim to even live."

Dib thought that over for a few minutes. Zim was, indeed, his and the Earth's greatest enemy. Though, the alien had been on this planet for over a year now and not caused much, if any, damage to anything. So far, he seemed all bark with no bite.

And if Zim was dead, where would Dib be? He would be back to his normal life before Zim, where not a single soul spoke to him (and if they did, it was just to mock him), and nobody realized his smarts or potential. He had no purpose before Zim. Zim gave him a purpose. Without Zim, life was meaningless all over again.

He couldn't go back to that.

Zim was on his stomach now, breathing harsh and in slow breaths. Dib gasped, quickly getting up and putting the PAK on the metallic table. Some vacuum-looking thing appeared and sucked all the jello-like substance from inside the PAK.

"Done. Good as new." The computer announced.

Dib snatched it and quickly re-attached it to Zim. Zim was motionless for a few seconds and Dib feared the worst. He let out a huge sigh of relief once the alien slowly sat up. Zim blinked a couple times, before his vision settled clearly on Dib. His strength was returning. Once his mind was unscrambled and back into it's natural order, he managed to fully glare at the smiling Dib.

"Don't ever do that to Zim again!" Zim threatened.

Dib half-laughed. "I won't. At least I saved you,"

Zim coughed into a fist. "Yes, but…whatever. Now get out of my base, pathetic human!" he ordered.

Dib jumped up, trench coat waving dramatically behind him as he pointed. "Fine! But I'll be back, Zim, to foil your plans! Remember this—as long as I'm around, the Earth will be protected!"

"Not as long as Zim can help it!" No stuttering, no twitching. Yes, his PAK was truly back to normal and so was Zim. Dib smiled to himself as he was chased out of Zim's base.

Zim stood by the door as Dib ran out. "Oh, and Dib-stink?"

"Yeah?" Dib paused, turning around.

"Thanks for saving me." He gave the human a small smile.

Dib smiled back at him. "No problem. Thanks for being here for me."

--

**Wow, I was completely lost on how to end this. I'm not exactly happy with how it ended up, but I feel alright about it. My second Invader Zim oneshot anyway.**

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